The POLKA, a traditional Czeck Dance and genre of music.
Replacing the K with a C we get the word POLCA which is an abreviation for the familiar Plan, Organise, Lead and Control to which I’ve added the word Achieve. You can also say POLC = A (Achieve).
The POLCA with a C not a K can be likened to a dance. Initially, the steps are complicated and you
struggle with the rhythm. However, once you get into the rhythm you really start enjoying the
dance and the music. Plan, organize, lead and control. Probably one of the oldest tricks in the book. Probably the most effective tool in a leaders hands.
Why do we still struggle to get things done? Why do we still feel overwhelmed most of the time? Why do we struggle to achieve our goals?
I believe it’s because we only focus on one or two of these every day. Plan, organise, lead and control is a daily and sequential cycle.
Daily: just like the sun rises in the morning and sets at night and that completes the cycle and everything gets renewed overnight, even so we ensure we complete the cycle every day.
Sequential: it’s important to understand that
○ I cannot achieve something I didn’t control.
○ I cannot control something that I didn’t lead.
○ I cannot lead something I didn’t organise.
○ I cannot organise something I didn’t plan.
So I will attempt to simplify each of the four steps in the cycle:
1. Plan
Make a complete list of all the tasks that you need to do.
2. Organise
Rank the list in order of priority, determine who are responsible to complete the tasks and
set a due dates and times
3. Lead
Get the people together that are responsible to do the work. Communicate the organised
list of tasks to be completed. Communicate the quality standard that is expected. Ensure
that everyone understands what is expected of them. Have a team huddle and send them
off.
4. Control
The most neglected part of the process is control. This is where you get your team
together at the end of the day to check two things:
a. Is the task done
b. It done according to the quality standard that was set
i. This is where you get hands on and physically check yourself where possible
I guarantee that if you apply these four steps daily and in sequence you will get more done, have
less stress and grow your capacity to do even more with ease.
Start dancing today.
Let’s do the POLCA
Written by:
Phillip De Jager Managing Director of ICS Flow
